Jessica Solis knew how big every Fennville-Saugatuck basketball game was.

But she and her fellow seniors never knew what it was like to beat their rival — until Friday. Solis led the Blackhawks to a stunning 35-26 win over the Indians with 12 points.

It was the first Fennville win in the rivalry in six years.

“It means just about everything,” Solis said. “Our high school rivalry is a big thing. Senior year, it was my goal to beat Saugatuck, and our team made it happen. It made me really happy.”

As the girls basketball season inches closer to the single-elimination state tournament, the Blackhawks think they can be a surprising team.

“If we can stick with Saugatuck, we can stick with just about anybody,” Solis said. “It was a big confidence booster.”

Confidence is something that has been lacking at Fennville girls games.

This year started no differently as the Blackhawks are 4-12 and 2-5 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference North Division.

But one game can make a difference, Solis believes.

“Our confidence has been not very high,” Solis said. “Sometimes you can see the girls shy away from an open shot. This game, I saw girls that usually don’t show the aggression, brought it out — and I think that confidence is here to stay.”

The win was part of a Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser by both schools, which made the win even more important to Fennville coach Ernie Ramirez, whose mother died of cancer six years ago.

Ramirez saw the best in his players Friday night, led by Solis, who has been a varsity player since her freshman year.

“Jessica had a really good game,” he said. “She can take over a game like that if she wants to. She has those kinds of skills.”

Those skills have been fine-tuned with a new approach in practice.

“You’d be surprised what has been motivating the kids to get better,” Ramirez said. “I instituted the game of 21 in practice. The boys do it all the time. It helps you be a little more physical and concentrate on your free throws. They have become a lot more aggressive.

“A lot of teams might say we are soft — we didn’t play soft.”

In fact, their aggressive defense and constant double down on Saugatuck Erica Fuller made a huge difference — especially after losing by nearly 20 points in the first rivalry matchup.

“We learned their strengths and weaknesses,” Solis said. “We learned a lot about them because they have really great players — especially Erica.We ended up doubling down Erica every time she got the ball. It helped.”